GM and its business partner Lyft announced the launch of a short-term car rental program, known as Express Drive.
This rental program is exclusively for the Lyft platform, which will make automobiles available for Lyft users at cheaper rates. The costs include insurance and maintenance as well.
The goal of this program is to encourage more and more drivers to take up this program. Initially the program will start in Chicago and later it will be expanded to Boston, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.
GM says that in the city of Chicago, there are more than 60,000 people who have applied to drive on the Lyft platform but did not have a car that qualified.
The rental for this program has been designed such a way so that the more the driver uses the car, the lower will be the rental.
Starting rental is $99 per week, including insurance and maintenance. Once the rider completes 65 rides in a week, they will be able to access a vehicle at no weekly rental cost.
Apart from this, the program also includes flexible terms to drivers who rent cars on weekly basis, which can go up to eight weeks or 2 months at a time.
The program will begin later in the month and will offer to drivers 5 seater Chevrolet Equinox crossovers fitted with OnStar and other connectivity features with ample cargo space.
Lyft president and co-founder, John Zimmer said: "Launching Express Drive is another way we treat drivers better, in addition to Power Driver Bonus, tips and same day payouts."
"We're making sure everyone who wants to be a Lyft driver can be, by providing ultimate flexibility at incredible rates."
General Motors president Dan Ammann said: "We're very pleased with how quickly the GM and Lyft team collaborated to create the Express Drive program, which we will be implementing using our Maven mobility infrastructure."
In January, GM had participated in Lyft's $1bn fundin round with $500m investment in a bid to create a network of autonomous vehicles to take on tech giants Google, Tesla, Uber, and Apple.
Image: General Motors President Dan Ammann (center) with Lyft Inc. co-founders John Zimmer (right) and Logan Green (left). Photo: Courtesy of General Motors
